


your love (keeps lifting me higher)

by ilovekaradanvers



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: 2018 Winter Olympics, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Alternate Universe - Olympics, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, IOC changes rules, Lena Luthor & Winn Schott Jr. Friendship, More characters to come, Quad Axel, alex is their sport trainer, also sam and alex are basically together, cat grant is their coach, figure skating, james plays hockey, kara and lena are both ice skaters, okay yeah theyre together for real, pairs skating, quad toe, sam is a curler!, starts in 2016 and leads up to the 2018 olympics
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-20
Updated: 2018-03-07
Packaged: 2019-03-21 21:48:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13749891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ilovekaradanvers/pseuds/ilovekaradanvers
Summary: Kara and Lena are both olympic figure skaters. When Lena turns 18, she moves out to National City to train under Cat Grant and they meet. Due to Kara's successes and her seemingly overnice attitude, Lena instantly dislikes her, but Cat has other ideas. A world changing piece of news is released, and Kara and Lena find themselves in a new and confusing situation.orThe IOC and the International Skating Union decide that pairs skaters can now be of the same gender. Can Kara and Lena make it to the olympics as the first same sex pairs team?





	1. chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> i got this idea when the canadian pairs did their team skate to moulin rouge and i was like.....!!! i instantly thought of lena being the "girl" skater and kara being the "boy" skater so :) for the first two chapters, its just lena and a little kara and some lucy sprinkled in. after that we will get some more kara and everyone else. I haven't decided yet if im gonna include sam, i think i might make her a curler if i do...(no maggie) alright no more spoilers go enjoy this intro :)) (also im hoping to keep updating semi-regularly bc i already have chapter two written so !!)

**_KARA DANVERS BECOMES FIRST SKATER TO COMPLETE A QUADRUPLE AXEL IN NATIONAL COMPETITION_ **

 

_ National City was booming with excitement as Kara Danvers, a 20 year old figure skater native to the area, becomes the first skater to complete a quadruple axel in a competition. Kara is on her way to the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang, where she hopes to repeat her successes of the 2014 Olympics. _

 

_ After an already impressive career, a gold medal in singles and the skate that brought USA the bronze in the team event back in Socchi, Kara is making her way to being one of the most memorable skaters. The quad, a jump first completed in competition by Kurt Browning in 1988, has only been completed successfully by one other woman, Miki Ando in a 2002 competition. Now, Kara Danvers not only makes history as becoming the second woman to complete a quad, but the first skater to complete a quadruple axel.  _

 

_ Sources tell us that Kara is expected to perform in pairs skating, but it is unknown yet who her partner will be. _

 

_ One thing’s for sure, Kara Danvers is quickly climbing her way to the top. _

 

* * *

 

 

Lena hauls her bag up and over her shoulder to make her way off the plane. The landing was rough, and she feels a little sick, and a regretful part of her knows that if her mother were here she would complain to someone about the way she was treated. But she can’t think like that, no not now, not when she moved across the country to get out of her mother’s snarling grasp.

 

After the disaster that was the Championships qualifiers last year, Lena couldn’t handle another season studying under her mother. It was already horrible enough that her mother was her coach, but having her mother be tall, skinny, elegant Lillian Luthor did nothing to help Lena’s image of herself: average height and average weight, not normally the “ideal” for a skater under Lillian Luthor’s control. 

 

That was why she had to go. She had been getting request after request after everyone saw what happened, after the her mother paid the fine the ISU put on her, after she had no coach. People wanted her, but then Kara Danvers completed the quad axel, and everyone wanted her instead. One offer still sounded good. Cat Grant out in National City had offered Lena the deal of a lifetime, and didn’t change it when Kara’s name became known overnight. Lena likes to think that’s because she is such an amazing skater, but in reality, it’s because Cat Grant doesn’t have to worry about capturing Kara Danvers. She already has her.

 

Which has Lena worrying as she grabs her luggage and makes her way outside. What will her first day be like? Will everyone at the rink worship Kara? Will Cat even have time for her? She’s only 18, and hasn’t made her name nearly as well known as Kara did at her age.

 

It’s not as if Lena has much time to worry, because as soon as she stepped off the plane, a text from Cat came through telling her to “get to the rink as soon as possible” with an address. Lena doesn’t even dare to stop at her new apartment in between the flight and the rink. She digs through her carry on for a moment and comes up with a bottle of advil and pops two before hailing a taxi.

 

She gives the driver the address as soon as she slides into the back seat, catching the look he gives her in the mirror. There probably aren’t many people that go straight from an airport to an ice rink. During the drive, Lena zones out from watching the high-rise buildings fly past. Soon enough, the driver pulls to a stop and turns to tell them they’re here. Lena mindlessly swipes her credit card before thanking the man and getting out of the car. She grabs her luggage and sets it on the ground, hurrying to put her hair into a ponytail so she looks a little bit presentable. The sign next to the door proudly advertises Kara’s existence, and Lena tries her best not to roll her eyes.

 

People stare at her as she walks in, so Lena hurries to the desk where a small woman sits, logging things into the computer.

 

“Open skate isn’t for another half-hour, either wait over there or go somewhere else,” the woman says, not even looking up.

 

“Um,” Lena says, shifting from foot to foot. “I’m here to see Cat Grant, she asked me to come as soon as possible.”

 

“Lady, Cat Grant is a busy woman,” she says, clicking out of something on her computer, “ why do you-” she stops when she finally looks up at Lena. “Oh great,” she laughs, “sorry.”

 

“It’s alright,” Lena drawls, confused. 

 

“I’m Lucy Lane, the building manager, sorry Ms. Luthor.”

 

“Please call me Lena,” she says, shaking the hand that is offered to her.

 

“Right, Lena. Well, just go on in, Cat is over in rink two with Kara,” Lucy says, sitting back down. Lena’s heart rate spikes and she takes a deep breath, turning to go walk to rink two.

 

As she pushes open the door, the sound of skates cutting through the ice reaches her ears. She walks to where she can see the ice and sets her bags down on a chair just as Kara starts to spin. Lena hears Cat Grant before she sees her, a tiny but scary woman, when she starts to yell to Kara.

 

“Keep going, keep spinning!” She shouts, as Kara swings her arm around and above her head and her speed increases. “Good, good,” Cat comments before she claps her hands once and Kara goes into a pose after her next turn. Lena takes in her rosy cheeks and her heaving chest, and averts her eyes as Kara skates slowly over to Cat. They have a short conversation and Kara nods before grabbing the water Cat hands her and making her way towards the exit. She slows as Lena catches her attention. 

 

“Hi,” Kara says to her cheerily. She turns and calls to Cat, “Lena is here!” Kara smiles at Lena and holds out her hand as she transitions from ice to rubber. “I’m Kara, it’s nice to meet you!”

 

“You too,” Lena responds, smiling slightly at the blonde. Kara goes to put the covers on her skates as Cat makes her way over to Lena.

 

“Lena Luthor in the flesh,” she says, checking her watch. “You certainly came here fast.”

 

“I figured it’d be easier to stop here,” Lena says, waving to her bags, “it’s on the way home.”

 

“Well, good,” Cat says with a smile. “When can you start?” She asks bluntly. 

 

“Well,” Lena says, eyeing Kara who is slinging her bag onto her shoulder as she stands. “My equipment is coming in tomorrow morning-”

 

“Great, so we can fit you in after Kara before the free skate for a short run. Three o’clock.”

 

“Great,” Lena says, a little dazed.

 

“Wonderful. See you both tomorrow,” Cat says, turning and walking to leave both Kara and Lena in the rink.

 

“Well,” Lena says, clasping her hands together before turning to face Kara, “that was abrupt.”

 

“You get used to it,” Kara says with a smile, grabbing a pair of glasses out the side of her bag and putting them on. 

 

“Cool,” Lena says, picking up her carry on and going to grab her luggage. Both Kara and Lena stand there for a moment, before Lucy pokes her head in the door.

 

“Hey just so you guys know free skate starts in ten minutes. Might wanna get out of here before then.”

 

“Okay, thanks Lucy,” Kara says with a smile. They walk out of the rink together and Kara falters when Lena starts to walk towards the front door.

 

“I go this way,” Kara says, pointing to a back entrance. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” Kara says, holding out her hand again. Lena shakes it and with a smile from both of them, they part.

 

Lena walks out the front door and ignores the looks people are giving her as she walks towards the street. Not many taxis come by the rink, so when Lena finds one she shoots out of her daze and waves it down. She repeats her actions from before, load her luggage, give the driver the address, sit in the back in a daze until she reaches her apartment.

 

Walking into the empty apartment wasn’t a fun sight to get home to. Even though it was still day time, Lena felt so exhausted. She just wanted to sit on the couch with a good book and a soft blanket, but her favorite blanket was with the rest of her luggage, which wasn’t coming until tomorrow. Lena walks into her bedroom and sets her luggage on the unmade bed, and fishes around her carry on for her wallet and phone.

 

Soon, Lena would start online college courses. That was the only thing her mother cared about. Lillian couldn’t care less where Lena went, as long as she got an education. As long as Lena had good grades, she wouldn’t have to worry about money. But that meant she was  _ finally  _ on her own. Mostly. And today, Lena wasn’t really in the mood for being independant.

 

She goes to grab her reusable bags and remembers that they’re probably with the rest of her things. With a sigh, Lena grabs her keys off the table and walks out the door. With no car and no bike, Lena walks to the closest store to get food for the night. 

 

In the store, a few people look at her, trying to place where they know her. Not being well known has some perks. It means no one really tackles you in public, but it also means people stare at you as they try to place how they know you. Lena goes through the store quickly, grabbing the fixings for a salad and a smoothie in the morning before she has to deal with her delivery.

 

Upon her arrival back, she’s asked to show her ID by the man at the desk, which makes her roll her eyes. The man welcomes her to the building when he figures out she’s a new tenant and lets her go up.

 

With a sigh, Lena unlocks her door, and resigns herself to a lonely night. After eating, it’s only nine pm, so Lena starts putting her clothes she has with her away in the closet and dresser. She resigns herself to an early night and sighs as she flops onto the couch. Ah, yes. The night of a champion.

 

She thinks of Kara Danvers, the “best skater in the world.” Lena was at championships too. She might not have gotten a medal… but she was there! Not maybe people paid much attention to her. They were all too excited about Kara doing a quad. She sighs as she adjusts the airline blanket she’s using and closes her eyes to sleep.

 

* * *

 

 

In the morning, Lena wakes up half an hour before her things are supposed to get here. She pushes her thin blanket off of her, grateful for National City's year round warmth, and stretches before she makes her smoothie. In a much shorter time than she imagined, the guard downstairs is telling her the movers are here with all of her things.

 

She opens the door and commandeers the elevator, and in a little over two hours, Lena is paying the men and shaking their hands as she stands in a sea of boxes. 

 

First priority: find skating equipment. Which, in retrospect, isn’t that hard. Her box with all of her things in them was dropped off right inside the door when Lena saw the mover holding it. She has to find her box of workout clothes, but she can’t remember if she labeled it specifically.

 

The finds the clothes boxes, moves them all into her bedroom, and starts digging. Soon enough, Lena is surrounded by clothes strewn all over the floor. One outfit later, she hunts down her hair brush and a towel and enters her bathroom. She checks the time and sees that she has an hour until she has to leave, and she realizes she hasn’t eaten anything.

 

Lena wrestles with the shower, giving up after five minutes of not being able to figure it out and resigning herself to a cold shower. With a sigh, she remembers her practice is being squeezed in. She tries to remember that she came here in the middle of the month, in the middle of the week no less. It’s too much of her to ask for the schedule to be rearranged so she can fit in. And besides, she thinks as she puts her face under the water, she needs time to unpack.

 

This works. It has to work. It has to work for another week until Cat can put an adjusted schedule into place. It has to work until Lena finds her place in the rink.

 

It has to work because she has nothing else.

 

She turns the water off and dries her skin on her way to her bedroom. After drying off, she puts her hair up in the towel to dry as she gets dressed, hopping around the room as she tugs her leggings on. In record time, her hair is up and her bag is packed, and Lena is out the door. 

 

She  _ needs _ to eat, so she walks until she finds a cafe and calls an uber just as she finishes her food. The ride to the rink is a blur, and soon enough, Lena finds herself entering rink two like yesterday.

 

The sounds of skates scraping ice meet her ears again, and Lena falters as she witnesses Kara do a quad. She has to consciously close her mouth as she enters further into the otherwise empty rink.

 

Lena  _ hates _ that she had to walk in during this practice. Of all times Kara could practice quads, it was now? Kara slows and skates to the end of the rink, turning and gaining speed as she starts in the opposite direction. Right as Kara is about to jump, Cat calls out, “Last jump!” 

 

Lena sits down and starts stretching, and purposely avoids watching Kara. Right as her forehead touches her knees, she hears a scrape and a fall, and looks up to see Kara sitting on the ice with her head in her hands.

 

“One more,” the blonde says, getting up and wiping the snow off of her hands.

 

“No,” Cat says, pointing towards the door. “Off the ice Kara.”

 

“Cat-”

 

“No,” Cat repeats. “You can do more tomorrow.” At this point, Cat looks over and catches Lena’s eye, so she goes back to stretching. She can hear Cat whispering to Kara, and she spares a glance as she grabs her skates. Kara has her head hung low, and Cat has one hand on her shoulder. The older woman seems to be comforting her, and Lena bats away the millions of rude questions flying around her head.

 

Kara skates off the ice in anger and almost runs over Lena, who is furiously lacing up her skates.

 

“Oh!” Kara exclaims, grabbing onto to the wall to catch her fall. “Sorry Lena,” she says, grabbing her blade covers.

 

“No, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have sat in the walkway…” 

 

“No biggie,” Kara says with a smile bigger than anyone should be able to make.

 

“Lena,” Cat calls semi-warly. Lena stands and steps onto the ice. Cat has her do two laps just to get going and Lena catches Kara lingering after her bag is packed away. Lena tries not to let it get to her and just skates up to Cat after she’s done.

 

“Let’s start with some questions,” Cat asks, opening the gate to the rink and stepping out on skates Lena wasn’t expecting her to have on. “Follow me.” They start skating around, and Cat watches her.

 

“What are your goals, Lena?”

 

“Um,” she starts, “obvious answer, the Olympics.”

 

“Team or single?”

 

“Either,” Lena answers right away.

 

“Either?” Cat asks, stopping ahead of Lena.

 

“I like to keep my options open,” Lena says with a shrug, noticing Kara is still sitting there.

 

“So you wouldn’t be opposed to pairs?”

 

“No, I suppose not,” Lena says, starting to skate again. Cat heads off the ice and smiles.

 

“Perfect. Show me a few jumps then, would you?”


	2. chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys! i was gonna post this earlier but then i got sick so its here now instead!! chapter three is done and will be up when chapter four is done and so on. that way if i get super behind i always have a backup u know? anyway this is kinda a gateway/filler chapter so not much happens but more does in the next one! also thanks so so so so so much for all of your comments!!!! they truly make my day and i love seeing that you guys love what i put out. thanks so much! enjoy :)

After her first practice on a Wednesday, Lena was told to work out off the ice and unpack until next Monday, when the new schedules would be up. Simple enough.

 

On her way out the door Thursday afternoon for food (she’d barely made a dent in her boxes when her stomach grumbled agrinly), the doorman stopped her and told her she never picked up her mailbox key. He mentions something about the mail already coming today, so Lena puts the key in her pocket and opts to check it later.

 

The fresh National City air hits her as the doors slide open and Lena sighs. It was gonna take a bit getting used to a sunny city. Thankfully, summer wasn’t going to be in full swing for some time, so her body has a long adjustment period. Her walk to Whole Foods is utterly uneventful, and she grabs a few essentials. As she pays, Lena decides to tackle the kitchen boxes when she gets home. 

 

The old tenant must have not cancelled their newspaper subscription. When Lena opens her mailbox, she finds the last three or four days of papers, along with a letter for her. She shuffles the mail under her arm and hesitates. She has no time to work out today, other than some stretching and basics she already did, so with a deep breath she runs up the stairs. 

 

A lady on the fourth floor eyes her oddly as she takes the steps one at a time with her groceries and mail in hand. She gets to her apartment on the eighth floor with only one other mishap (almost running into a man in the hall) and catches her breath as she unlocks the door.

 

With a sigh, she greets her more or less empty apartment and throws her keys in the bowl next to the door. It wasn’t much, but at least it got her legs moving and her heart pumping.

 

Lena opts to snack on some fruits as she unpacks her kitchen boxes. There’s not that much to it, other than some heavy things. A coffee maker on the counter, plates in one cupboard and glasses in the next, cooking utensils, dining utensils, towels, cleaning supplies, bowls, pans, pots. A kitchen is easy to decide what goes where. In the rest of her house, there’s style and thought in it that makes her dread setting it up.

 

Her apartment is nice. The kitchen flows well into the dining and living rooms, natural light gets let in from the abundance of windows, and the master and guest bedrooms are more than enough. It certainly is a step down from the Luthor mansion back home, but Lena appreciates that.

 

She didn't come to National City to be a Luthor. She came to National City to become an olympic skater. That means sacrificing things, and Lena was determined to live her life as normally as possible. This meant going to school, finding her own way around the city, living on her own, maybe getting a job. She’s dreading for that now.

 

The thought of figuring out transportation makes her pause her unpacking efforts. She sets the bowls in her hands onto the shelf and thinks about the best way to get around. 

 

Ideally, she’d get a car. Realistically, she probably is going to get a bike. The rink isn’t too far away from her apartment, so this concept is feasible. If she ever needs to transport a lot of equipment, then she can just get a cab. She resists the urge to abandon her unpacking for another time to go get the bike. 

 

She locks the door to her apartment and gets back to work. She swings open some windows and lets the warm air flow over her for a moment before turning away and pulling out her phone. She turns on music before setting her phone on the counter and getting back to work.

 

Not before long, Lena is turning on lights as the city behind her starts to darken. She’s gotten almost everything done, and opts to leave her books and bedroom for tomorrow. She sits on her single couch again and adds going to ikea to her mental list for tomorrow. Her belongings sit scattered around her, halfway between set-up and just placed randomly on flat surfaces. She doesn’t find any strength within her to care. It’ll get fixed eventually. 

 

She sighs as she looks at her clock she just hung and sees that free skate at the rink must have just started. Since it was Thursday, it probably wouldn’t be that packed. With nothing else to do, her body  _ begs _ to be on the ice, and after ten minutes of contemplating, Lena is up off the couch to grab her skates. 

 

Lucy looks at her in surprise when she enters the doors at 8 pm, surrounded by rowdy teenagers. Lena walks up to her and asks how much free skate is as Lucy smiles. 

 

“Are you getting bored?” she asks, holding out a stamp for Lena’s hand.

 

“Yes,” Lena sighs, holding out her hand. “Unpacking my entire apartment is horrible. How much?” she asks again, letting Lucy stamp her hand.

 

“Nah, just go on in. I won’t tell if you don’t,” Lucy shrugs.

 

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Lena says with a shake of her head. She grabs her wallet and takes a five out of it.

 

“Open is in rink one today,” Lucy says, taking the money from Lena and nodding her head in the direction. Lena stops on her way there and changes into her skates, leaving the guards on and sticking her shoes and bag in a 50 cent locker. 

 

The rink is smaller and full of teenagers, and Lena shuffles around them, just trying to get to the ice. Right before stepping onto the ice, she takes off the guards and sticks them in her back pocket. She joins the pack making its way around the rink and goes away from the walls, where the faster skaters are.

 

There aren’t many people here, but that’s to be expected for a Thursday. The radio is playing and people are skating all over the place. The little kids stumbling around make her smile, and she lets herself go. She mindlessly does laps around the rink, occasionally turning to go backwards instead. When the whistle blows and people start heading off the ice for the zamboni, Lena sits down on the benches to watch it go by. 

 

Her mind is almost on autopilot and she savors this state before her training starts again. Soon, there won’t be time to relax. Soon, she’ll be at the rink for hours on end, doing the same jumps over and over again. She needs to buy a new pair of skates. She needs to find a trampoline studio to practice jumps. She needs, she needs, she needs.

 

Lena realizes with a startle that people have started going back onto the rink. She stands and joins them, but her thoughts are tainted. What time will her training be? What will Cat’s regimen be like? How often will she share the ice with Kara? What other skaters train there? She finds that her free mind is now trapped in her own concerns, and she does one more lap before heading off the ice. She puts the guards back on her skates and grabs the key out of her pocket to grab her shoes.

 

She swaps out her skates for her shoes and walks through the empty lobby. Lucy notices her on her way out and waves, so Lena waves back with a slight smile.

 

The warm air blows on her cheeks and Lena walks home. Her bag with her skates sits awkwardly on her shoulders, and she takes her time. A bike shops catches her eye and she decides to take one item off of her to-do list tomorrow, so she waits for traffic to stop and crosses the street. She makes sure the time her watch has is reasonably before the closing time printed on the door and makes her way in.

 

There’s rack after rack of bikes, and Lena knows nothing about them. Some have thick wheels, some have wheels that look like they are  _ too _ thin. The guy behind the counter comes around and asks her what she needs and she looks around briefly. 

 

“I want a bike. For my main way of transportation,” she says, taking in the dorky man.

 

“Sure! We’ve got pretty good ones. Since you’re gonna be riding on concrete, you don’t need big tires,” he starts, walking her over to a section of the store, “but you don’t want thin tires, those will wear out. We have airless tires, those help with city travel because popped tires are a big issue.”

 

“Okay,” Lena says, spinning around and taking in the bikes above her.

 

“Oh!” The guy says, and Lena turns around. “Are you a skater?”

 

“Uh,” Lena falters, “yeah, I am.” She says with a smile, shifting her new National City Rink bag that was given to her on her shoulder.

 

“Wow that’s so cool! Do you know Kara?” 

 

“Yeah,” Lena says, her smile falling a bit. 

 

“What a small world. She’s my roommate! I’m Winn,” he says, holding out his hand.

 

“Lena,” she replies, shaking it.

 

“Well, Lena these bikes on this rack are best for city travel. They’re all pretty good, so you can pick any.” Lena eyes the bikes and finds two that are black with accent colors, one green, one red.

 

“Green or red?” She asks Winn, not able to decide on her own. Winn hums and looks at the bikes she’s pointing at and then at her. 

 

“I think green,” he decides with a nod. She looks between the bikes again and nods with him.

 

“Sure,” she decides. “That one then.”

 

“This one is 220 dollars,” Winn says, reading the card.

 

“Okay,” Lena says with a nod. “Could I also get a helmet?” Winn nods and takes her over to the helmet wall and fits her head to a size. 

 

“Any helmet in the second row is good for you.” Lena eyes them and picks out a simple black helmet and turns to Winn.

 

“Cool!” Winn exclaims with a smile, rolling the bike towards the front of the shop. He comes up to the counter with the name and model of the bike in his hand and punches it into the computer. Lena hands him her card and in seconds she becomes the owner of a new bike.

 

“Have a good day,” Winn says as she puts her wallet back into her bag. “I’ll see you around?” He asks.

 

“Probably,” Lena says with a small smile. “Thank you, Winn” she says, rolling the bike out of the store. Winn waves at her and she waves back, stopping just next to the store. With a quick adjustment of the seat, Lena puts on the helmet and is off and riding back home. 

 

She comes up to her apartment and sees a bike rack. She makes her way over before remembering that she didn’t buy a lock, and she doesn’t have one. The doorman smiles at her as she enters, rolling her bike along. He doesn’t check who she is this time, and it makes her smile as she calls the elevator. The car is a bit to small for the bike to fit well, so Lena props it diagonally and squishes herself in the car. 

 

The elevator stops on her floor and she shuffles to exit quickly when she sees a woman waiting for the elevator. She passes her with an apologetic smile and shuffles into her apartment. By the time she has her bike set aside and out of the way, her shoes off, her skates dry and sharpened, the clock reads 9:48. Lena turns off all of her lights on the way to her freshly made bed and stops only to change before falling into bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there ya have it! i have wednesday off of school so chapter three should come quicker than this one. basically the next few months of my life are writing my english essay (which is about smallville and superman!) and writing this!!! again thank you all so much for reading and commenting! i hope to get ch 3 up probably on wednesday tbh!!! thanks :))


	3. chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aha! as promised, wednesday is here and so is a new chapter! we're getting closer friends............ things are....... happening! anyway thank you all so much again for you amazing comments and your support! i love knowing that you guys love this story! thank you again and enjoy :) (also.... fight me... cat grant is nice. she can be sassy and bossy but also be nice so get wrecked. cat grant is a sweetheart and calls All People by the right name)

Laughter fills Kara’s apartment that Friday. It’s harder to find time for game nights during the season, with three of the six attendees being winter athletes and two of them working at the rink, but they make it work. 

 

“Wait,  _ what _ happened?” Sam asks between games, laughing. James shakes his head at her with a smile and shrugs his shoulders. 

 

“The new kid was trying out being a goalie, and Matthews comes up full speed and just shoots the puck at him. Poor dude just stares at it, and before you know it he’s on the ground crying about how no one told him to wear a cup,” James explains with a chuckle, smiling at Alex who has her head in her hands.

 

“He came to me, right? And he asks for some ice, so I get it,” Alex says, laughing as she explains, “and I offered to let him stay there, and he just takes the ice and hobbles out of the room without even saying thanks!” 

 

“It must’ve been awkward for him! He doesn’t know anything about you,” James explains, leaning back on the couch and putting his arm around Lucy.

 

“What, like I’m gay?” Alex asks, mirroring James and putting her arm around Sam, who rolls her eyes and leans into it.

 

“Duh,” Kara laughs, getting up to set the abandoned monopoly game aside. “He probably has a massive crush on you.”

 

“Well sucks for him,” Winn adds.

 

“He’ll learn,” James says with a nod.

 

“Hey Kara,” Winn asks as she returns. “How’s Lena?”

 

“How do you know Lena?” Alex asks. 

 

“She came in and bought a bike the other day, and we talked a little,” Winn says, grabbing some popcorn from Kara’s bowl. Alex hums in response and turns towards Kara, eager to learn more about the elusive Lena Luthor.

 

“Cat gave her the rest of the week and the weekend off to unpack and get situated as long as she works out, so other than her first day I don’t know anything else.”

 

“Isn’t that a bit weird?” Sam asks. “Isn’t Cat worried that she’ll get like… out of her game?”

 

“No,” Kara says definitively. “She’s good. I remember her a bit from Championships, and she’s good. And she seems nice.”

 

“Yeah,” Lucy laughs. “And dedicated. EIther that or stir crazy, she came to free skate last night and this afternoon.”

 

“That’s good,” James nods. “Remember Siobhan?”

 

“I wish I didn’t,” Kara says, shooting him a glare. Alex laughs at her and it makes Kara laugh too, and they continue on with their game night.

 

* * *

 

 

Cat emails Lena the schedule on Sunday. Lena’s training doesn’t overlap with Kara’s, which makes her glad. When she looks at Friday, her happiness ebbs a little. In bold letters, Friday’s activity says “group workout.” She understands  _ why _ it’s a thing, but she doesn’t have to  _ like _ it. 

 

Her apartment is finished by Saturday evening. All of her clothes are put away, her fridge is stocked, and her furniture is… partly built. Okay, so it’s not  _ all the way _ done. All she has left is to put together her bedframe and them put her mattress on it and then make the bed, but that’s not doable right now. Right now, she’s sitting on her couch drinking her one-glass-a-week glass of wine, which she might regret next weekend, but it feels worth it now.

 

The weekend was basically a montage of unpacking and working out and shopping and setting things up and skating and spending money and signing up for classes and buying a bike lock and getting proper equipment to replace some that got lost and getting lost in the city. It was kind of hellish.

 

Even though she knows cat will work her hard, she can’t  _ wait _ to get back to training. Unpacking has been a beyond boring, and Lena feels a little like she’s let herself go. She mentally smacks herself on the head and thinks,  _ no, no, no _ . Her mother would’ve said that to her. It’s only been three days. If Cat thinks that she can handle three days off, then she can handle a few days off. 

 

Training with her mother was, simply put, odd. From the time she put on skates when she was seven, she never got a break. It was always school, training, then repeat. There was no time for friends really. No time for other hobbies.

 

And not to say she wasn’t smart. She poured over books almost as much as she skated. The days spent in a trampoline park practicing jumps were always either followed or preceded by homework.

 

She stays on the couch for a while, letting her body rest and letting her mind get prepared for skating. It’s a month into the season, and Cat said she wanted to see what Lena had of her routine. Not that it was much. None at all really.

 

All Lena has for her routine is the song. The song, and the opening sequence that she wrote herself with no help, so it would probably get scrapped. Unless Cat’s methods were different than her mothers.

 

The hardest thing about this switch isn’t moving across the country. It isn’t dealing with Kara or not knowing anyone or living alone, it’s having to go into this blind. After training with her mother for all of her skating career, Lena’s left wondering at what it was like to have a coach that  _ wasn’t _ your mother. 

 

It would be a lot of trial and error. A lot of guessing and checking and questions and wondering and anger and fighting and screaming and-

 

No.

 

Cat Grant isn’t Lillian Luthor. Lena takes a sip of her wine and sighs. Most coaches don’t scream at their skaters. Most coaches don’t mistreat their skaters and get away with it. It would take  _ a lot _ of getting used to. Lena was going in this blindly. 

 

She downs the last of her wine and pulls up Cat’s email to check the time of her training. It’s early. Before Kara’s. Lena wonders if that means she won’t have to run into the blonde, but she knows she probably will. Kara’s time is right after Lena’s. 

 

It isn’t that Lena hates Kara. It’s just that Kara was so successful at Lena’s age. Kara made her mother treat her harder. Kara was her comparison, along with every other young skater. It’s not like it’s Lena’s fault she was born in the year she was. It’s not her fault she’s 18 during the summer olympics instead of the winter olympics. Kara is just so nice. And so perfect. And she’s widely known. So it’s not that Lena hates Kara…

 

It’s just that- oh hell- Lena hates Kara.

 

She knows, she  _ knows _ , that deep down, it doesn’t matter. She knows it’s wrong. She knows that it’s unfair to hate Kara without  _ really _ knowing her. But she can’t help it. 

 

She walks to the kitchen and sets her glass in the sink, following  her wine with a large glass of water. Tomorrow is going to be an odd day.

 

* * *

 

 

Lena gets to the rink five minutes before she’s supposed to. She doesn’t want to seem overeager, but she doesn’t want to seem like she doesn’t care. Five minutes early is a good balance.

 

Upon entering, she sees Lucy at the desk, as per usual. She waves to her as she walks to rink three, the one indicated as her designated location for that day. She passes teenagers and hockey players on her way in, making awkward eye contact with a few of them. 

 

When she gets in the rink, Cat still isn’t there, so she laces up her skates and puts on her gloves as fast as possible so she can be on the ice when Cat walks in. 

 

She gets on the ice and starts doing laps. She’s already warmed up from stretching before and riding her bike over, so she doesn’t need to take laps too seriously. Cat walks in while she rounds a corner and she backtracks to skate back over to her. 

 

“Lena,” Cat says in form of greeting. “I wanted to start off with saying that this week is going to be light. Things are being figured out with scheduling. Since we work with two figure skaters now, you both need a balanced and equal schedule.”

 

“Right,” Lena says, sighing lightly. “Do you have any ideas on what that will look like?”

 

“Well, Kara normally spends all day training, and I expect you to do so as well-”

 

“I’m enrolled in classes,” Lena interrupts. “I can be training all day, minus a few hours in the middle.” Lena tries to keep from cringing at her forwardness, and stands her ground. If she can’t be in classes, she can’t be skating.

 

“Very well,” Cat says after a pause. “We’ll take that into consideration. She will be both on the ice and in the gym five days a week. Your schedule will be the opposite of hers, Sundays are off.”’

 

“Off?” Lena asks.

 

“You’re still expected to do some level of training on Sundays, but you won’t need to come into the rink. Unless you want to,” Cat says with a suggestive tone. Lena gets the idea that part of Cat expects her to come in on Sundays.

 

“As for your programs this year,” Cat continues, “what do you have in mind.”

 

“I’d like to do Fascination or Rhapsody in Blue for one of them,” Lena says, shrugging her shoulders.

 

“Why?” Cat asks sharply. Lena falters for a moment and thinks. 

 

“Well,” she starts, “I’ve always wanted to do a skate to a classical piece and both of them are reputable numbers.”

 

“Good,” Cat says with a smile. “We need to make sure that we get it cut, and get it cut well. Let’s begin.”

 

The next three hours of Lena’s life are filled with jumps and spins and step sequences and surprisingly… laughter.

 

When Lena falls  _ right _ on her ass instead of landing a triple toe, Cat  _ laughs.  _ At first Lena doesn’t really know what to do. She’s so used to getting yelled at when she falls that she doesn’t know what to do. Cat’s laughing subsidses somewhat and she tells Lena “get off your ass, silly,” and Lena laughs with her. 

 

She tries again and lands perfectly.

 

Her spin gets a little out of control and turns more into something resembling a twizzle sequence in ice dancing and Cat jokes around, asking if she would like to switch styles this late in the game.

 

Lena lands a triple lutz and Cat claps for her, and calls out the time. It doesn’t feel like it’s been three and a half hours by the time they’re done. Cat calls Lena over and gives her a high five before telling her to stake around to cool off, explicitly telling her  _ no jumps while I’m gone _ . Lena laps around once before Cat leaves and she holds out her hand again. Lena laughs as she skates by, giving Cat one last high five before she leaves. 

 

With a smile on her face and a weight off her chest, Lena leaves her first skating practice with her new coach feeling  _ amazing. _

 

* * *

 

 

She heads straight to the gym. Lena opts not to even leave the building and goes to the rink’s gym designated for athletes. She walks in and immediately gets knocked over.

 

“Sorry! Sorry,” she hears above her. Lena takes the hand that’s offered to her and stands up, coming face to face with Kara. “Sorry, Lena,” she says again. “I was just on my way down to the rink.”

 

“Jeez Kara,” a tall woman sitting at a machine calls out. “Don’t knock over the competition. You don’t wanna be the new Tonya Harding.”

 

“She didn’t do it,” Kara and Lena both say. They look at each other and Kara giggles, and Lena smiles insincerely. 

 

“Well, either way,” the woman says, laying back down, “go get on the ice, Danvers.”

 

“Will do, boss,” Kara says with a laugh, giving the others in the room a mock salute. “See ya, Lena,” she says, before walking out the door.

 

“She laughs too much,” Lena mutters, throwing her bag in the corner and making her way to an elliptical. 

 

“She does,” the woman on the bench replies, startling Lena. “You get used to it after a while.” Lena nods turns away, cringing at herself.  _ Great way to make enemies, Luthor,  _ she thinks.

 

“I’m Sam,” the woman says, sitting up again. “I’m on the curling team.”

 

“Oh,” Lena says, shaking Sam’s hand. “I didn’t know Cat coached a curling team.”   
  


“Oh, she doesn’t,” Sam says, pointing to a buff man sitting behind a desk. “J’onn does. They own the rink together.”

 

“I didn’t know that either.” Lena admits, turning the machine on.

“Yeah, they both used to run different rinks, and there was a lot of competition. I think one day they just gave it us and decided to co-own one of the biggest ice rink facilities in the country with five sheets.”

 

“That’s kind of cool actually,” Lena says, moving to put her headphones in. Sam takes the hint and lays back down, nodding to her spotter and grabbing the weight again. 

 

Lena spends a while in the gym, doing light workouts and trying out the machines. At one point, the slide board frees up and Lena makes her way over to it. After a short five minutes of sliding back and forth, she sees a man with speed skates in his hands walking over to her and she gets off. More use to him anyway. 

 

She opts to go home when she sees she’s skipped lunch. She feels great when she gets on her bike, and rides straight home. The whole time she makes herself food, Lena is on a high. Her first day was  _ great,  _ minus the literal run in with Kara, and she feels amazing. No session with her mother ever felt this good. When her food is done, she brings it and a large glass of water over to the kitchen island.

 

The second her ass hits the seat, her legs feel like jelly and she realizes how hard she worked today.

 

It wasn’t that she never worked hard back home with her mother, it’s just that she never enjoyed it, so she never worked her hardest. This was the most she had done in a long time. Her skating wasn’t bad, but she thinks she has a lot of potential that she now knows was being capped at a lower level by the one and only Lillian Luthor. 

  
Now she  _ knows _ that she can really be better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there ya have it! i hope you liked it :) (also yes...... "matthews" is indeed monel... but he will never appear. only vague mentions) chapter four is SIGNIFICANTLY shorter, but also... juicy. you'll like the next one i think. i hope you liked this one too!!! but anyway I think shorter and more frequent chapters work better for me? i tried to write a 5 thousand word chapters for my last one and it was HARD, so i think this is how its gonna be! i am in high school tho so there will be times my updates wont be so frequent :( BUT anyway thank you again and i'll see you next time!!!! thanks :)))
> 
> (also i like the trope of cat calling people the wrong names, but in this i just...... wasn't feeling it)


End file.
